ARTIST'S STATEMENT:I try to make a positive statement that will bring lightness as well as a new awareness to things and places that are around us. Colonial Williamsburg, the Chesapeake Bay boats, and flowers are some of my favorite subjects. Florida living has presented me with new flora and fauna.

In 2005, I decided to learn SCUBA diving. Two paintings, the Reef at Dusk, and The Reef by Day, were inspired by my experiences under water.

What I like about painting in watercolor is the luminosity one achieves by allowing the value of the paper to remain as the lightest element. After that, each step in value is dictated by how much transparency is left. Unlike with oils or pastels, one cannot retrieve the lights once they are lost. Sometimes I do quite a lot of planning and make several value sketches before I touch the paper with paint. I also like the fun of working with "accidents" such as blossoms to create new directions in the painting.

I also like to experiment with acrylic paints and aqueous crayons, with collage, and to play with abstract themes.

Peggy Kossler

BACKGROUND:
Peggy has lived in York County, near Williamsburg, Virginia since 1969, and sails with her husband on the York River. She has a studio home in Florida where she lives and paints during the winter.

She earned her BS in Art History from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Peggy also attended the College of William & Mary
and the Corcoran School of Art. She studied with
Betty Anglin and Jim Pittman in Virginia, and has
also studied with Tatiana McKinney at the Venice
Art Center. Peggy has taken workshops with Don Andrews,
Carol Barnes, Barbara Nechis, Martha Mans, Carla
O'Conner and Betsy Dillard Stroud.

HONORS AND AWARDS:
Peggy is a Signature member of the Florida Suncoast
Watercolor Society. Recent awards include a Merit
Award for Florida Scenes at the Englewood Art Center
and an invitation to a special exhibit for Women
Contemporary Artists in Punta Gorda, FL. Her works
have been accepted into juried shows at the Art Center
Sarasota, the Venice Art Center, and the Englewood
Art Center. Other honors include "Summer Winners
Circle" at the Venice Art Center following a first
place award for "Spring
Daze".

In Virginia, Peggy has exhibited at An Occasion For The Arts, This Century Art Gallery, and Gallery on the York, where she received a merit award in the 2006 Virginia Heritage show. She has previously received a Special Award in Virginia Heritage I and placed second in Virginia Heritage II and had one-person shows in the members' gallery in 1997 and 2003. She participated in the invitational shows at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center and the Tercentenary Exhibition at the College of William and Mary.